Metallic railway-tie.



No. 859.394. PATBNTBD JULY 9, 1907. H. A. LOMAX.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIB. APlLlcATIoN FILED Nov. 17. 19'06.

c. THE mmms PETERS cn.; wAsmNamN. n.

HAROLD A. LOMAX, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

METALLIC RAILWAY-TIE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 9, 1907.

ApplicatiOn filed November 17,'1906. Serial No. 343,830.

To all whom it may concern: u

Be it known that I, HAROLD A. LoMAX, a resident of Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Metallic Railway-Ties; and I do hereby declare theollowingto be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.V

This invention relates to metallic railway ties and its object is toprovide a tie of economical and strong section and which can be readilyand inexpensively manufactured by ordinary rolling, punching and bendingprocesses.

The invention comprises a tie having the characteristics hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a side view oi the blank afterslitting; Fig. 2 is a cross section of the same; Fig. 3 is a plan viewof the tie; Fig. 4 is a side view of the same; Fig. 5 is an end view ofthe same; Fig. 6 is a side view of a portion oi a tie showing amodiication.

In the manufacture of my tie I produce by ordinary rolling operations asection such as shown in Fig. 2, this having the web portion l which inthe tie is arranged vertically and having at one edge oppositelyprojecting flanges 2 forming the head of the tie and upon which therails are seated and to which they are secured. At the lower edge of theweb I form a thickened or bulb portion 3 and beyond the same is the baseflange forming portion 4 in the form oi a continuous, and preferablytapering, web as shown inFig. 2. This section is cut in lengths suitablefor the tie and the base flange forming portion 4 is then slit at 5 atintervals from its lower edge up to the thickened portion 3 and theseveral sections of said portion formed by these slits are then bent atright angles to their original positions and alternately in oppositedirections to form the base flange members, or feet, 8 of the tie. Atsome placealong the tie, preferably at its center, the base forming webportion 4 is also slit horizontally on line 6 6, Fig. l to sever thesame from the thickened portion 3. A vertical slit 7 is also formed atthe center oi the tie and the portions formed by said horizontal andvertical slits are bent downwardly on the lines 9, thus forming ineffect down-turned anges l0 on the adjacent base members 8, said flangeslying transversely of the aXis of the tie and serving to preventmovement of the tie laterally in the road bed. By this means the tie isalso made oi less depth at the center and this prevents center bending.

The completed tie may be said to be oi modiiied I shape in cross sectionhaving a vertical web l and a head formed by the flanges 2, while thebase is formed by the thickened portion 3 and alternately arrangedout-turned feet or members 8. The thickened member 3 not only forms atension chord for the girder but also a strengthening portion to preventthe slits 5 cut in the part 4 from producing fractures extending up intothe web oi the girder. The base members 8 can, of course, be made anydesired width so as to get a very large bearing on the ballast. It isobvious that in rolling the section shown in Fig. 2, the portion 4 canbe rolled of indefinite width if desired so as to give a very wide baseto the rail; whereas, it would practically be impossible to roll an Ibeam having such wide flanges in one head. As a consequence, the tie,has a iirm seat on the ballast while the transverse portions l0 preventall lateral movement. The base portions may be very thin it desired, forpurposes of lightness, in which event they may be corrugated to stiftenthe same as shown at ll, Fig. G. The corrugating may be done in rollingthe blank, or after the base flanges are bent to shape.

The tie is easy to manufacture as the section shown in Fig. 2 can berolled without diiiiculty and the iurther op erations are nothing morethan slitting and bending steps. By having irl-turned base iianges, thatis the laterally projecting base portions or feet 8, another advantageis obtained as the ballast can be tamped not only at the side edges ofthese portions but also in between these projecting portions.

I have shown no means for securing the rail to the tie since these canbe varied within wide limits, either by means of bolts passing throughthe flanges 2 or by suitable clips secured thereto.

What I claim is:

1. A metallic railway tie comprising a beam having a vertical web andflanges at the upper edge and having at its lower edge flange portionsprojecting in opposite directions and arranged alternately.

2. A metallic railway tie comprising a rolled beam having a vertical weband flanges at the upper edge, and having its lower' edge slitvertically and the portions formed by the slits bent alternately inopposite directions.

3. A metallic railway tie comprisinga beam having a vertical web withflanges at the upper edge and at the lower edge having flange portionsprojecting in opposite directions and arranged alternately, and having areinforced portion at the point where the flanges join the web.

4. A metallic railway tie comprising a rolled beam having a vertical webwith flanges at the top and being thickcned at its bottom and havingbelow the thickened portion flange portions arranged alternately andprojecting in opposite directions.

5. A metallic railway tie comprising a beam having a vertical web andflanges at the upper edge, and having at the lower edge ange portionsprojecting in opposite directions, and a downwardly projecting portionconnected with said ilanges and extending transversely of the tie.

6. A metallic railway tie comprising a beam having a vertical web withflanges at the upper edge and having at its base a series .of flangeportions arranged alternately and projecting in opposite directions, oneor more of said Iiange portions having a downwardly projecting edgeextending transversely of the axis of the tie.

7. A metallic railway tie comprising a rolled beam having a web withanges at its top and having at its bottom a thickened portion, and belowthe same flange portions projecting in opposite directions, one or moreof said base 10 flange portions having a down-turned edge portionextending transversely of the axis of the tie.

In testimony whereof, I the said HAROLD A. LoMAx have hereunto Set myhand.

HAROLD A. LOMAX.

Witnesses:

F. W. WINTER, ROBERT C. TOTTEN.

